The Tales and Tellings of Hallows' Grove (MLM)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

Henry shivered, eyes squinted at the morning light pouring in through the windows. Edward pulled the covers up over them both.

"It's freezing," he murmured sleepily, hugging Henry tighter. Henry hummed and for a while was content to do something he'd never done before, and sleep in.

Then a thought that Henry would later owe to the freshness of the mind in the morning flitted into his head. How odd, he thought somewhere in the back of his mind, that Edward would seek Henry's warmth when it was normally the other way around. Because Edward, no matter the weather, was always warm.

Except now.

Henry lifted his head with a gasp, bleary-eyed with furrowed brows. "You're cold right now?"

"Very much," Edward grumbled, displeased at Henry sitting up, and attempted to pull him back down onto him. "There is a storm going on."

"Yes, but," Henry sat up on his knees now, "you shouldn't feel that. You're a ghost, you shouldn't feel anything! Maybe you're starting to come back to life somehow! Maybe once you fell in love then—"

Edward sat up, taking Henry by the shoulders. "Henry, stop. Breathe. No one wishes that were true more than me, but it's only because we're touching that I can feel the world around me at all. Believe me, I've noticed this since the beginning, I've experimented. I'm only alive, or as close as I can be, when we're together."

"Oh," Henry's shoulders fell, all his energy vanished in an instant, all his hope burned away. All but a shred, all he had left. He wished that would go away, too. He had no idea how annoyed he'd been with it until just now, when it proved to be useless.

"Henry," Edward cupped his jaw. "It's all right. It's all right, my love."

"Oh," was all Henry could say as Edward hugged him close and pressed his lips to the top of his head. Henry swallowed thickly, his eyes burning. That one damn moment of hope had opened a gate. It felt like an anchor on his heart had made itself known after hiding for so long. His lower lip trembled before he could help it, and no sooner had his vision turned blurry than the tears fell despite his efforts to keep them. In truth, he hardly tried.

"I thought . . ."

Edward shushed him softly, holding him more tightly against him through his silent cries, his other hand running down his hair. "I know."

"I'm sorry," Henry said into Edward's chest. What he was apologizing for, he hadn't the faintest idea. I'm sorry I failed you, I'm sorry I'm crying, I'm sorry you died and that we met and that we had to both suffer like this.

Edward kissed his brow and whispered against his skin, "I'm not."

The spell, Henry realized too late, did not break until he'd left the bedroom. Edward clung to his back, yet naturally his sister who was pouring fresh ice on the stones did not see him.

"The ice doesn't seem to be melting, Adele," said Henry, peering into the bowl.

"I just wanted to be safe," said Adele in deep concentration as she spread the ice around evenly so that the stones poked out like buried eggs. Henry too quickly stared through them, into the memories of earlier this morning, of his tears and Edward's whispers.

("Again," he'd murmured hoarsely when his eyes had dried, "it seems you're to comfort me. I've become rather helpless, don't you think?"

Edward had smiled softly and kissed him again. "Not even if I had to carry you," he'd whispered.)

He felt a needle-like pain in his chest that he couldn't get rid of no matter how much water he drank or how often he cleared his throat. Every so often Edward would brush his hair with his fingers or kiss his jaw or run a hand down his back, and Henry would feel at ease for just a moment, remembering suddenly that he wasn't the type whose eyes filled with tears or who felt like their heart was shattering whenever Edward wasn't there. But they were and it was.

Nox meowed and bit the back of Henry's hand, and it woke him from his thoughts.

"Where's Simon?" he fixed his attention on the spells and charms and mysteries of Hallows' Grove while he still had them for a distraction.

"He's been gone since you left to the library yesterday," said Adele, his brows pinched. "I'm worried he's gone off to look for Vera alone." She resumed her own distractions. "I—I didn't want to sleep in an empty house last night, I thought I would watch the stones, be of use."

"I feel better knowing you were watching them," Henry assured her, more thankful for the unintentional soundproof spell than ever. "And you're always welcome here."

Adele swallowed and nodded and her lower lip trembled for a moment before she steeled her expression once more. Edward's intense emerald eyes shifted from her to Henry.

"Henry," Edward started, "if Simon's looking for Vera on his own . . ."

He trailed off, for Henry was already discreetly shaking his head. He nudged his chin towards the fireplace and Nox did his own job keeping Adele busy with the ice as he swiped at them with his tail.

"Nox, no," Henry heard her murmur.

They leaned against the mantel and Henry confessed, "Vera wouldn't hurt Simon, and she certainly couldn't be found."

Edward raised a brow, a knowing smirk tugging at his lips. "You did something, didn't you?"

"Do you remember the day I went looking through my car, and you and your brother and sister stayed here? I put a protection spell on you, and it lasts so long as I'm not there. You're already safe out of my sight because you're my familiar, but now, Simon and Adele can't be harmed either."

Edward was smiling wide now, shaking his head. "I bloody love you."

Henry resorted to his usual crossed arms, thinking hard. "There's something else that bothers me though. The cloaking spell Vera's using, it feels . . . familiar. Like I've read it somewhere before."

"Maybe you've tried it and don't remember?" offered Edward. "You are very old."

Henry gave him a pained smile. "No, a spell like that would leave marks. Permanent marks. It involves fusing topaz into your skin, and you have to cast it while on living earth, which explains why Charlie had sensed her in a forest. It's not a common spell, which is why we only found it in one out of hundreds of books. Argh," he rubbed his temple. "Why can't I remember? I'm usually good at remembering spells."

"Relax," Edward told him, taking his hands in his own. "It'll come to you, we have time."

"Three days, Edward," he said, exasperated now. "It's hardly ideal."

"Oh?" Edward scoffed. "And is that what our lives have been lately? Ideal? This seems very on par with everything, actually."

Henry dropped his hands and watched him, shaking his head. "When did you become so calm?"

Edward smirked, like the idea of being compared to Henry was a great compliment. "When I realized you'd had to do it for far too long. Keeping a level head is a small price to pay for you to finally feel allowed to breathe after three-hundred years."

"It's you who's given me reason to worry," he told Edward, leaning his head back against the brick. "Is this what having feelings does to you? Because it's a bloody nightmare."

Edward laughed, and Henry's head fell onto his shoulder. "The more you love, the more it hurts. Another small price."

Henry smiled at the thought. "A small price . . ." he repeated, and repeated, and repeated. Slowly, he picked his head up, brows furrowed. "Say, Edward . . . bit of a strange and pretentious question, but bear with me. Would you do anything for me? Risk anything?"

"Yes," said Edward without a moment's hesitation. "With my whole heart. But why ask?"

"Because I would do anything for you," he said. "Risk anything." He faced Edward, the pieces of the puzzle forming a clearer image now than ever. "So I think I know why Vera's doing all of this. I think she's trying to bring back someone she loves. Someone who died a long time ago."